Crucio: Blood is Everything
by WaningMoon
Summary: The second part in the 'Crucio' series. Andromeda's memories about Bellatrix. Read and review, please!


**A/N: This is the second part in the _Crucio_ series. The best part of the series is that you don't need to read the first part to get what's going on, but feel free to read it anyway! (:**

_**Crucio: Blood is Everything**_

_Bellatrix? No, not right now, please. I've got too much going on right now and Teddy is crying and needs to be fed and the casserole is in the oven...Maybe you could come back…never. Please. Thank you._

_-||-_

_Please come inside. Would you like some tea?_

_No, don't think even for a moment that I am going to give you an interview. I just can't stand to see you stand in the rain waiting for me to agree._

_-||-_

_Fine, where would you like to start?_

_Let's see. Bella as a child…We were always really close, the three of us. For a while we would do everything together…_

"Bella! Bella!" Andy and Cissy ran into Bella's room, where the 10-year-old girl was laid out on her bed, poring over _Hogwarts: A History_. She looked up promptly as her sisters entered, and a grin broke out on her face. She sat up, crossing her legs, and Andromeda and Narcissa clambered onto her bed and sat beside her.

"You wanna play with us?" Cissy took her thumb out of her mouth long enough to ask Bella.

"What are you playing? And Cissy, stop sucking your thumb," Bella reminded her. "You're six now, you shouldn't be doing that anymore."

Cissy pouted, taking her thumb out and sitting on it.

"We wanted to play Quidditch but Mum didn't want us to fly today. So we were hoping you'd have some ideas," Andy said, bouncing lightly on the bed.

Bella bit her lip. She twirled her black hair around her finger, a habit she had recently picked up. Her face lit up. "Let's play Exploding Snap!"

"I'll get the pack!" Andy shouted, jumping up and running to the game cupboard.

Cissy's bottom lip trembled. "I never win at Exploding Snap," she said quietly, hugging her doll.

"I'll let you win, 'kay Cissy?" Bella offered, smiling.

Cissy peered up at Bella with wide, watery blue eyes. "Promise?"

Bella grinned. "Promise."

_Of course, it was of the most utmost importance to her that the three of us acted like perfect Slytherins and noble Blacks. When she found out I wanted to take Muggle Studies she threw such a fit!_

"Andromeda, please!" Bella paced around in Andy's dorm room. "Muggle Studies? There are so many better subjects you could study, why in the goddamned world would you want to waste your time on something as stupid and pointless and all-round ridiculous as _MUGGLE STUDIES?!_" She spun around to face her younger sister.

Andy picked at her bedspread, not daring to meet Bella's eyes. "Because, Bell, I just don't care for things like Divination or Arithmancy."

"So don't take them! Take Care of Magical Creatures! Take Ancient Runes! Just take anything except for Muggle Studies!" Bella plonked herself down on the bed beside Andy's, glaring daggers at Andy.

"Just leave me alone, Bella," Andy mumbled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Andy," Bella began, her voice much softer. She moved to Andy's bed. "Andy, have you thought about what Mum and Dad will say?" Before Andy could even answer, she continued: "Dad will blast you off the family tree as soon as he finds out. And neither of them will even look at you after this. Look at me, Andy."

Andy did.

"Do you really think you'll be able to put up with all that silence for the rest of your life?"

"That's the thing, Bella," Andy replied, swiping a hand across her eyes. "It's _my life_. And…and…and I don't care what you or anyone else says. I'm taking Muggle Studies."

Bella stood up. "Then you're on your own, Andromeda Black." She turned and walked out of the dormitory.

_After that I was entirely on my own. I moved out when I was 17. I started working for the Ministry of Magic, in the Obliviator Headquarters._

_That was when I met Teddy. I mean, Ted Tonks, my husband. Not little Teddy Lupin. But you probably know that._

_Where were we?_

_Right. Obliviator Headquarters._

_Out of courtesy I sent wedding invitations to Bella and Cissy and Mum and Dad. Oh, my, that was such a mistake. The riot that Bella created at my wedding! She turned the cake into an entire family of cats, the decorations became bats and spiders, oh! The Obliviators had a field day cleaning up that mess._

_Of course she was never supportive of Ted and me._

_If you ask me, she still cared for me. Or she cared for the family name, at least. She hated the thought of her sister betraying her blood status._

_Blood is never always thicker than water, you know. Especially when water is all people see when they look at you._

**A/N: And that was the second part of the _Crucio_ series! Watch out for the next few parts, including perspectives of Narcissa and maybe even Draco! If you're in a hurry to read the next part then review! Reviews spur me on to write (:**


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